Free Hunt and Pray by Cindy Sutherland Page B

a ride. If not, we can walk parallel to it, keep out of sight. I want to avoid a confrontation with my father and Ezra if we can. I could take one of them, but not both.”
    “I’m not completely useless, you know.” Drew didn’t know why Chance’s opinion of him mattered so much, but it did.
    Chance turned back to look at him for a second before walking again.
    “I know. You’ve been doing better than anyone could have ever guessed out here, but they’re killers, Drew. They won’t think twice about breaking your neck or slitting your throat, and there wouldn’t be a lot you could do to stop them.”
    When Chance started walking, Drew had fallen in behind and tried to walk exactly where the other man did.
    “It doesn’t mean you’re weak or anything, just untrained.”
    Drew smiled at Chance’s attempt to make him feel better. The man didn’t have a lot of people skills.
    “Yeah, I know. I have no desire to try and take Ezra in a wrestling match.” They kept walking, slowly but surely. “Thanks again, by the way.”
    Chance glanced over his shoulder, frowning. “For what?”
    Drew shrugged, even though Chance had turned back around. “For the other night… stopping Ezra.” It still pissed him off that he hadn’t been able to defend himself against the man’s abuse.
    “It shouldn’t happen to anyone.” Chance sounded angry but didn’t say any more.
    They walked in silence for hours, moving as quickly as they could without hurting themselves. Drew couldn’t see anything except the outline of Chance ahead of him, never letting him out of his sight.
    After a while, though, the silence started getting to Drew, and he cleared his throat.
    “Chance? Is it safe to talk?”
    The other man’s spine stiffened for a second, like he was surprised to find Drew still behind him. After a moment, he relaxed and nodded.
    “What do you want to talk about?” Chance’s voice was husky from disuse, and it wasn’t necessarily an unpleasant sound.
    Drew took a breath. “Where are we? I mean, when we were at the cabin.”
    “Well, if there’s a point in the mountains west of Colorado Springs that’s the farthest from civilization, the cabin was it. I’m sure the colonel spent a lot of time pouring over military maps to find it.” Chance sounded bitter, and Drew couldn’t really blame him.
    “I’m sorry this is costing you your father.” The man was a deranged fucking lunatic, but he was the only parent Chance had.
    Chance shook his head. “He hasn’t cared about being my father for a long time, Drew. To him, I was just another soldier.”
    He noticed Chance was slowing down a little bit, but he wasn’t sure if it was because Drew was or if the other man was getting tired.
    When he found himself walking almost side by side with Chance, he knew it was time to take a breather.
    “Hey, Chance? Could we take a little break? I’m getting really tired, and I’m starting to stumble a lot.” He knew suggesting Chance needed a rest wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he let Chance think he was weak. He probably thought that anyway.
    “Yeah, okay. The sun’ll be up soon. It’ll make it easier to go faster.” Chance looked around before heading for a small clearing.
    Once there, he took the flashlight from Drew and looked around, presumably making sure it was safe. He nodded and gave the light back to Drew and sank to the ground.
    Drew followed suit, sinking down as close to Chance as he dared. Already cold, he started to shiver. When he looked over at Chance, he could see fine tremors wracking the other man’s lean body as well.
    Drew sighed and forced himself to his feet.
    “Where are you going?” Chance sounded wary and tired.
    Drew closed the little bit of distance between them and stood beside the other man, looking down at him. “Look, I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, and for the moment, I’m reasonably sure that you mean it about not wanting to kill me.”
    Drew nervously scrubbed a hand